Who is Ari Aster? That’s what I wanted to know after seeing the first-time filmmaker’s horror masterpiece Hereditary, which is now available for purchase on VOD platforms with a 4K, Blu-ray and DVD release slated for September 4th. Included on the releases are the featurette “Cursed: The True Nature of Hereditary” and an “Evil in Miniature” photo gallery. Shockingly missing is a commentary track. Typically, this isn’t a big deal, but we’re discussing the most talked-about horror film of the year from a first time director who we all know nothing about. For such hype behind a release, it’s a catastrophe that they chose to exclude a commentary track from Aster.
Being irate on Twitter, a reader pointed me to something that’s a little better than nothing – Aster’s interview with horror director Mick Garris on his wonderful “Post Mortem” podcast. While you won’t hear Aster breaking down his mind-blowing shots, he does talk a little about his process that should act as a lesson to all aspiring filmmakers. He goes into detail about his over-preparation that’s so precise that it restricts his actor’s ability to “bring their own” to the performance. It’s such a titillating moment in the interview because it’s Aster being humble, and acknowledging something that’s both his blessing and curse to deal with – something he needs to learn how to constructively address in future projects.
There’s also talk about his experience through AFI’s schooling system, how he built all the sets (and why), and selected his cast. Even more interesting was his mentality behind Hereditary, which (as we know) began as a drama and turned into a horror film. As explained by Aster, life can feel like a nightmare, especially when bad things happen and he wanted to honor those emotions. “When it rains it pours.”
Here’s the full podcast:
